But even if it fails to make me a household name, it was such a fun opportunity and I think Molly has a great segment on nutrition and making over traditionally bad-for-you fare. She and the Swerve crew contacted me recently about a few recipes they wanted to overhaul and wondered if I would be up for the challenge. One was creme brulee, and she wanted it to be made with Greek yogurt. Now, you know I don’t shy away from heavy cream and other full-fat delights, but I do realize that much of the population is still on the low-fat craze. So I could appreciate her idea of making a rich, creamy dessert like creme brulee, with a protein-rich replacement like low fat Greek yogurt. As long as it doesn’t contain sugar, I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction!
I was a little stumped on how to swap in the yogurt for the cream. I’ve made my fair share of brulee before, with cream and milk, and it’s a rather arduous process, slowly bringing the cream up to temperature and whisking in the egg yolks without cooking them. And then finally putting the custards in a hot water bath in a low temp oven. My biggest worry was that heating the yogurt would make it separate out and curdle…not exactly the texture brulee should have. So I decided to do a little Google research, and lo and behold, there was a great recipe for Greek Yogurt Creme Brulee from a dear blogger friend, Brian of A Thought For Food.
He really did the heavy lifting for me here, I have to confess. Turns out that since Greek yogurt is already quite thick, it doesn’t need to be cooked into a custard first, so that saved a huge amount of time. I had to make sure that the whole recipe would work with Swerve, but I was pretty certain it would (and it did). I lightened up a bit on the vanilla, because I like the tanginess of yogurt and I wanted that to come through. And brulee-ing the Swerve on top does take a little more time and a little higher heat intensity. It doesn’t caramlize quite as quickly as sugar, so if you want that brown, crispy top, you need to get in there with that kitchen torch and let her rip!
For your enjoyment, here is a clip of Molly’s segment that includes the Creme Brulee, as well as a healthified sugar-free apple crisp (not low carb, but it can be made gluten-free). I am not physically in this one, but you do hear them talk about me and All Day I Dream About Food. Does that make me famous?
Get The Skinny on Swerve Sweetened Desserts
Greek Yogurt Creme Brulee
Ingredients
Custard:
- 2 cups plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Topping:
- 4 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and place 4 ramekins in a large baking dish.
- For the custard, place yogurt, Swerve, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
- Divide mixture evenly among ramekins in baking dish. Fill baking dish with hot water to within 1-inch of top of ramekins.
- Bake 25 minutes. Custards should still be quite jiggly, and not at all puffed up. Remove and let cool in pan, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Just prior to serving, sprinkle 1 tbsp Swerve over each custard. Use a kitchen torch to melt and caramelize Swerve.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
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Congrats for getting on tv and the new opportunities this will bring you!
This looks lovely! Never would have thought of using yogurt. And I’ve never heard of Swerve, so thanks for introducing it to me.
I saw a recipe using Greek yogurt in Creme Brulee, but it puzzled me as it used unsweetened yogurt with no sweetener added, just the sweet topping. This rendition sounds fantastic – I think it definitely helps to have some sweetener in the base.
Yum, yum, yum. You’re totally famous. Who else can make all this low carb food so delicious. You rock. So does your brulee.
I love this take on crime brûlée.
This is an interesting and an attractive idea. Because creme burlee is normall made with half and half or whipping cream (or even manufacturer’s cream, why did you use 2% instead of 4% or full-fat yoghurt? Would it not be more unctious with full-fat yoghurt? Also I think it would be cheaper and work just as well, were you to drain regular full-fat plain yoghurt to thicken it, eh? Of course the yoghurt in any case should be a pure milk product (cow, goat, or sheep) and free of any additives or thickeners or both, yes?
Love the action shot!! I love that this recipe has Greek yogurt in it!!
I never would have thought about using Greek yogurt for creme brulee!
oh wow! what a fabulous idea
Woo hoo! Congrats! And I’m also so thrilled that you made greek yogurt creme brulee and honored that you gave me a mention here. Isn’t it so good?
You are so going to be famous! Shows are talking about you, and you get to be on one – it is just cool! Congrats!
This creme brulee sounds wonderful. It is my husbands favorite dessert, but he never wants it because of all the calories and fat. I will have to try this version to see what he thinks!
What a fun recipe! Love the addition of Greek Yogurt.
A healthy creme brulee….I am totally intrigued.
Yummy! What a great recipe!
Congratulations on the TV spot–at the very least, it’s one step closer to fame, right?! 😉 I was wondering how you’d manage to get the top all caramelized and crispy, but you did it!
Very clever Carolyn! I’m really interested in that Swerve sweetener–I’ll be looking for it.
Well, you’re famous at my house! Am going to use full fat Fage, and give this a try today. Was wondering if I could torch erythritol. Glad you did it first, as I was expecting some sort of kitchen disaster I could blog about, lol.
LOL, the first time I tried to caramelize erythritol, I was worried I would blow up my house. It does smoke more than sugar, and it needs more heat, but it gets there!
This is wonderful! I love how many ways Greek yogurt can be used. This is my new favorite.
Love this! I totally think that being on the local station makes you famous:-)
That looks so good!!!! Why did I give away that little blow torch we received as a wedding gift 10 years ago??